LADERA RANCH – Jim Schmitt first installed fake grass in his side yard to replace mulch that clung to his dogs’ fur.

He followed the homeowners association’s rules. Workers added rows of brick as the required buffer between the natural grass next door and his new artificial turf.

“It looked great,” he said, pleased with the results.

So when the turf company said they had a leftover piece to fit his front yard, Schmitt jumped at the chance to further cut back his water costs and maintenance for his home in the Front Street Business District.

“Within hours of it being installed – the day the job was finished – we got a letter because we hadn’t gone through the proper procedure,” Schmitt, 71, said. “I knew we hadn’t, but I couldn’t pass up this deal.”

That deal has ended up costing Schmitt $350 in fines each month for the past six months.

Unlike some neighboring communities, the Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corp., or LARMAC, allows artificial turf in yards. However, architectural guidelines require that homeowners get written approval of their plans first. And, along with the required buffer between regular turf, LARMAC’s bylaws state front-yard turf can’t be the “major focal point” of landscaping and must be set back 18 inches from the property line.

“Nobody could explain to me why the 18-inch buffer,” Schmitt said. “I don’t know what I’d do with that 18 inches.”

The space is intended to be a “shrub-planting buffer,” the bylaws state. And it’s about keeping up aesthetics from the street view, according to Ken Gibson, executive director of LARMAC.

“The biggest issue I know with the installation of artificial turf is the maintenance of it,” Gibson said. “After time, it can start to lift up. And there can be weeds that grow up between the concrete and the edge of the turf.”

Schmitt said he got a notice from the attorney for the LARMAC board about weeds that had sprouted along the edge of his fake grass. He insists that they were small and that his wife had pulled them before they even received the letter.

“It’s so asinine. Weeds grow everywhere. If you have a real turf line, weeds are still going to grow,” Schmitt argued. “I told one of the board members, ‘Please use that argument. If that’s the best you got, bring it on.’ “

Artificial turf originally was made from nylon and resembled carpet. The fibers were highly absorbent, resulting in bad odors and concerns about cleanliness, EasyTurf President and CEO David Hartman said. Today, the grass is made mostly from polyethylene, which is nonabsorbent and can look and feel like real grass.

When Schmitt first put his turf in, his goal was saving water. But after the violation notices and fines started coming, Schmitt said he researched other benefits of artificial grass: fewer chemicals running off toward the ocean, less work to maintain, no brown spots, ever. As LARMAC reiterates its position that he has to either add the setback or replace his turf with real grass, he said his resolve to fight only grows.

Brooke Edwards Staggs is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering the politics, business, health and culture of cannabis. Journalism has led Staggs to a manhunt in Las Vegas, a zero gravity flight over Queens and a fishing village in Ghana. The Big Bear native is addicted to education. She earned her bachelors degree in English from California Baptist University, then got her master's in education as she taught high school English in the Inland Empire. After four years in the classroom, she left in 2006 to be a student again herself, earning a masters degree in journalism from New York University while interning and freelancing for a variety of publications. She sees journalism as another form of teaching, helping readers make informed decisions and better understand the world around them. Staggs spent five years as a staff writer then city editor at the Daily Press in Victorville. She won several awards for her work there, including best breaking news story from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for her tale of a teen who shot his father in a hunting accident. She joined the Orange County Register in January 2013, covering several south Orange County communities and the city of Tustin before taking on the marijuana beat in February 2016. On occasion, she also teaches community college and ghostwrites nonfiction books. Staggs loves dancing and new adventures. She hates water slides and injustice. If she doesn’t get right back to you, there’s a good chance she’s sitting with her DJ husband on a plane or train or boat destined for somewhere – anywhere – they’ve never been.